What would you consider "fully" potty-trained?

[NJfoodie]

We're sailing in 2 months w/ DS so we still have time to keep working with him and we'll see where he is at that point in time but I can't predict where his progress will be. We'll be on NCL where the kids don't have to be PT'd yet for the kids program, but we're also considering whether or not he'll be ready enough to use the pools.

 

DS is a week shy of 3 yrs old and we're somewhere in the middle. He is pretty much completely #2 trained - he only does that in the toilet and can tell us in advance that he has to go, with enough time to get to the bathroom. He can get his pants and underwear on and off by himself, but he tends to pee on his pants not having pushed them down far enough, and he's nowhere near adequately wiping himself afterwards. He is good thankfully about being able to wash his hands so long as he can reach the sink and soap and he knows that any potty visit is followed by handwashing. He's also very regular so we can anticipate when he needs to go and we make sure a bathroom is accessible then.

 

#1 on the other hand, he hasn't reached a point where he can tell us he needs to go. He can go on command though and knows what to do on the toilet. We have him go before we go out anywhere and that pretty much means we know we'll have an hour or so where his bladder just isn't full. This has gotten us through car rides and activities w/ minimal accidents but that's mainly when we're with him and we're vigilant. He still sleeps in a diaper/pull up and I expect he will on the trip. He mostly wears underwear but we've occasionally used pull ups with the same directive that he has to keep them dry just like he does underwear and he does try.

 

Would you consider him trained enough to use the pools for short periods as he is good w/ poop, and we can take him to pee before swimming? We've been trying to encourage training with letting him know that he can't go swimming on our vacation unless he's trained but I'm not sure where the line should be drawn.

 

For the kids club, I don't expect the counselors to be on top of having the kids go to the bathroom the way they do in daycare. At daycare, all the kids are close to the same stage so they line them up to go potty every 1-2 hours, they help w/ wiping, and getting pants on and off. With constant supervision and being focused on the potty, he stays dry or has occasional accidents but I don't expect camp to do that. NCL doesn't require that the child be trained but will require us to change him if he does have an accident, which may happen more often if he's not watched as closely as we do. If he is still where he is now, would you have him wear a pull up in kids club? I would still expect we would be back up to periodically change him in addition to him using the bathroom before drop off and at pick up but at least should he have an accident, it would be contained and not on the play area floor. If we were on a line where they have to be fully trained like RCI - able to do everything independently w/o supervision, I would likely not put him in the kids club yet unless I was sure he was ready to be completely independent on the toilet which I know he's not. We're planning to use the kids club for a couple hours at a time here and there on sea days, not a whole day unless he doesn't want to leave it.

 

I'm hoping my questions will be moot and he'll be completely trained by then but I'm also being realistic that if he's not there, he's not there.

[6rugrats]

I didn't read your entire post, so will just answer the question of your title.

 

Fully potty trained means a child is able to take themselves to the bathroom, and go without any help, and they have no accidents.

 

Anything other than that means they are not fully potty trained.

[russianmom]

My son was totally trained but was busy playing one day and he didn't get to the bathroom in time to get his pants down all the way so his pants got wet.

 

The basically sat him in a plastic chair by the entrance door and called me. They will not/do not allow parents inside when the Kid's Club is operating. When I got there they handed him off and we went back to the cabin to get changed/cleaned up.

 

They will not help with pants up/down, getting on/off toilet, hand washing etc. and they will not let you in there to help for periodic potty breaks.

If he's not 100% there I would probably do a pull up to save the hassle (even though it may seem counterintuitive to what you are trying to teach him) or be prepared to pick him up for a change of clothes.

 

As for the pool the only thing I am going to say is that keep in mind, if he does happen to have an accident ( new environment, new foods, new schedule) that means shutting the entire pool down and that makes a lot of other passengers very unhappy.

[NJfoodie]

Sorry, about the long post. I didn't realize just how much detail I put into the post until I went back later! I'm mainly obsessing because we're up to our elbows in potty training right now - it's our life day in day out. I'm trying to figure out what's reasonable to not put undue pressure on him, trying to be considerate of other passengers, and also enjoy our vacation. We have never let him use the pools before on past cruises (he's already got 2 under his belt) and I don't know yet at what point I'm comfortable with letting him swim this year. I'm looking for other parents' experiences with kids at this age range or in similar stages of PTing. I'm iffy on the kids' pool in general as many parents put their kids in diapers in them anyway despite the rules disallowing that. Yuck.

 

I might also look into training pants while we're still working on it. I'm hoping that the regular washable ones are like cloth diapers w/ a plastic liner in that he'll feel the wetness so he can recognize when he's had an accident and need to be changed out of them unlike the pull ups, but doesn't leave a puddle where other kids will be playing. That might be a middle ground between underwear and pull ups.

[MrsK2008]

I am going through a similiar situation with my DD. She is 2 1/2 and we are going on our NCL cruise in less than 2 months. About a month, I put the potty training in "full gear" and pretty much uses the potty and wears underwear during the day. We still put the pull ups on a night though most mornings she wakes up dry.

 

My DD can tell us when she has to do #1, but not so much with #2, but know when she has to go #2 as she is constantly running to the toilet. I would keep working with your son and I would have him pull down his own pants and wipe himself after everytime, with guidance of course, so he knows what to do. I do with my DD so she can do the whole potty process herself.

 

I would make sure that he goes potty before going to the kids club and pool so there are no accidents. If it would make you feel more comfortable, put him the pull ups while in the kids club. I'm sure you won't have in there during most of the cruise, right?

 

Good luck - I'm sure he will be fine during your trip!

[notentirelynormal]

I think if he can control his #2 and you know he can go for around an hour for #1 then just have him go before he gets in the pool and pull him out no longer then 30-45 minutes and have him go on the toilet. My grandkids will tell me when they are in the pool then need to go - cos they've been told it's "icky". Quite a few kids wear diapers to sleep long after they make it fine during the day. For most of us parents it's a precaution to dealing with a peed on bed. Seriously, the kid is not going to be in the pool for 6 hours. It's workable. As for the kid's area, pull ups work if you can't get in there to help with the situation. Just explain to him that this doesn't mean it's ok to pee or poop in them, but just in case it's an emergency and mommy/daddy can't get to you in time. I think a lot of training is about explanation. I also agree to start training him to wipe and pull up his pants himself. It's no small task for those little guys to get those tight pants up. You might want to consider pants that are really easy to pull up. No snap, no zipper, just elastic and loose.

[Mom2B&Z]

I'm no help on the kids club issue, but for the pool I would be comfortable having the child urinte before entering, then being vigilant about going every hour when in the pool. It isn't just kids urinating or defecating in the pool that causes closures, last cruise DS2 (who was 4 at the time) vomited in the pool after swallowing too much water. Yes we closed the pool, but it was an accident. Lots of parents stopped us later in the day to see how he was feeling, but lots also gave us the "been there, glad it wasn't me" look!

We all do our best but things happen. At least you're not the parent with their child in a swim diaper ;)

[kj55]

I am going in 2 weeks with my 2.5 year old. He is toilet trained but can't manage the pants up and down by himself and if he gets busy he can forget to pee until it is almost too late ( ie needs to go now). For pools no problem. For the kids club I'm thinking of either a pull up or getting my 5 year old to help pull the pants up and down while in the club. Accidents happen even to older kids. In 2 months your child may be completely trained once they have the breakthrough it gets so much easier.

[gigi1313]

We were in the exact same place last year when going to sail on carnival... I put ds in a pull up for kids club and he came back with it wet once... We only did the little only kiddie wading pool with no swim diaper mainly because it was empty and the bigger pool was mega crowded... I would have been comfortable taking him in big pool sans swim diaper if it were less crowded.

[NJfoodie]

We were in the exact same place last year when going to sail on carnival... I put ds in a pull up for kids club and he came back with it wet once... We only did the little only kiddie wading pool with no swim diaper mainly because it was empty and the bigger pool was mega crowded... I would have been comfortable taking him in big pool sans swim diaper if it were less crowded.

 

Amusing coincidence - if your username is your name, it's my name as well. And we were on the Glory about 3 weeks before you. It was DS's first time in a kids' program and he did pretty well with it. He was still full in diapers then at just over 2 yrs, but he didn't need changing all that much while in the kids club. We'd only put him in for a couple hours here and there, mostly when we knew he was not going to do well sitting through a long dinner. We'd sign him in to eat w/ the kids club where he can go play, and pick him up after dinner.

[gigi1313]

Amusing coincidence - if your username is your name, it's my name as well. And we were on the Glory about 3 weeks before you. It was DS's first time in a kids' program and he did pretty well with it. He was still full in diapers then at just over 2 yrs, but he didn't need changing all that much while in the kids club. We'd only put him in for a couple hours here and there, mostly when we knew he was not going to do well sitting through a long dinner. We'd sign him in to eat w/ the kids club where he can go play, and pick him up after dinner.

 

My username is my name (minus the numbers LOL!)... small world nd fun coincidence!

The Glory was our first cruise and ds' first kid club (or any group childcre) experience and he loved it! We, too, did the dinner time thing. I am looking forward to Disneys dinner time thing where thy pick them up in the MDR 45 mins into dinner, with the waitstaff speeding up the little ones meal so he is done and we can relax... Bliss!

[alj1208]

A few things to add. Being able to get the pants up and down is an important piece of the process. You could make it easier by dressing him only in pants or shorts with stretch waists (sweat pants and the like). Buy loose things so it's easier. As for wiping, #2 wiping doesn't come until much later in the process for most kids. My DS was trained quickly and easily at 3.5. Not accident prone and dry at night soon after. He could handle simple pants (no buttons, snaps or zippers) AND he could recognize that he needed to go and communicate the need to get to the toilet. But, at age 5, I am only now teaching him to wipe for #2. He needs to do that in time for the start of Kindergarten in the fall. I did send him to the kids' club on our cruise at age 4, but I didn't worry about #2, because he wasn't in there for more than a few hours at a time, and he was always the type of kid who went #2 on schedule and when he was in a relaxed setting like at home.

[Pikaia]

Would you consider him trained enough to use the pools for short periods as he is good w/ poop, and we can take him to pee before swimming?

We're well out of the diaper stage, and what you've described would be completely fine with me. :)

 

My main concern as a parent would be making sure he knows to avoid getting any pool water in his mouth. Stomach bugs like Cryptosporidium and Giardia are picked up in swimming pools surprisingly often, and even norovirus can be spread via pools: link. I cringe when I see kids (and adults!) spouting water at each other from their mouths. :eek:

[NJfoodie]

We're well out of the diaper stage, and what you've described would be completely fine with me. :)

 

My main concern as a parent would be making sure he knows to avoid getting any pool water in his mouth. Stomach bugs like Cryptosporidium and Giardia are picked up in swimming pools surprisingly often, and even norovirus can be spread via pools: link. I cringe when I see kids (and adults!) spouting water at each other from their mouths. :eek:

 

You're on our roll call right? :)

It's reassuring to know you won't turn me in to the pool police if you saw us in the pool, and you'll get to meet DS at the M&G. He mainly doggie paddles right now w/ his head above water when swimming so we try to keep him from getting a lot of water in his mouth, nose and ears. I'm not a fan of mouthfuls of pool water either. Besides, nevermind children, some adults still pee in pools!

[Pikaia]

You're on our roll call right? :)

Yep!

 

I'm not a fan of mouthfuls of pool water either. Besides, nevermind children, some adults still pee in pools!

LOL, yes, but at least urine is essentially sterile! :D

[mjkacmom]

I had a child who didn't poop training until an entire year after pee training. I sent him to morning preschool without hesitation, even though they had to be completely poop trained, because trust me, there is no way in heck this kid was going to poop in his underwear! Or the potty - lol! You should be fine with the pool.

 

If you are worried about him regressing with the pullups, put them over his underwear. That way, he feels wet, but doesn't make a mess.

[jlrn366419]

I would be ok with it as a parent and also a passenger as long as you don't let him drink copious amounts of fluids right before the pool visit and take him to the bathroom before and at regular intervals during pool time.

 

If you are looking for a potty training helper, I'm fond of the dappi waterproof nylon diaper covers. They are cheap, thin and keep outer clothing dry. I use them over my son's underwear at times since we are still trying to get pee trained. They aren't plastic, they are nylon so they feel more like fabric yet they are waterproof. If you decide to try them the sizing runs large.